Billionaire Miners? Going Where No Man Has Before!

By Shawn Speakman on April 25, 2012

Once upon a time, I thought NASA would take humanity into space to build our civilization there.

It would be done in a number of ways. Space stations? We’ve done that. Well done, NASA and world. Moon colonies. Haven’t done that—sorry Newt. Spaceships like the Nostromo that head into the nether regions of space with all types of crew and intention? Not unless we have Ripley on board. Mars colonies built under the soil? Where is that little red man, anyway?

Well, it is looking like it won’t be NASA doing this. Maybe Ridley Scott knew more than the rest of us.

James Cameron too.

NASA is broken due to its native United States economy. Cuts have been made even under a liberal President. What’s the world coming to? Rather than NASA having the resources to invest in its own venture into space, someone else is stepping up.

Who wants to do the things I listed above? Billionaires.

Billionaires with huge dreams.

Here is a video:

Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Page and Chairman Eric Schmidt are among the backers of a venture to mine asteroids for trillions of dollars of precious metals. This won’t happen overnight. Planetary Resources Inc., based in my Seattle, WA, plans to launch a satellite/telescope in the next two years to spy out asteroids that contain precious metals. Some of these asteroids contain trillions if not gazillions of dollars worth of metals, some of which would be used in the construction of space stations, space colonies, and space ships that would travel to the outskirts of space.

Such monied people as Ross Perot and James Cameron have also signed on to the project.

It is going to cost billions of dollars to even get off the ground—literally. There are a great many people out there who think this will go nowhere. That the cost will outweigh the amount of money that it brings in. Business models that lose money don’t last very long.

Perhaps the backers are willing to risk it though because there is a chance they will see a return. And if it doesn’t work? They are furthering humanity’s understanding of the universe and pushing the folds of what’s possible.

It’s going to be fun watching the satellite/telescope get launched in a few years and see what it can find. It will be even more fun to watch an asteroid attempting to be captured by the likes of Mankind.

I have no doubt such footage will have the entire world riveted.

Maybe the mining business of the future won’t be controlled by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation.